Hello everyone, For those of you who are not aware, certain LUGs in NJ met to see if they could combine resources and activities. In the process NJULUGS (New Jersey United Linux Users Groups) was formed to facilitate in this goal. Please check out the brand-new-spanking website http://njulugs.org. Also, a mailing list and forums have been setup to help in communication between LUG members.
Unfortunately, I was unable to make it to the first three meetings but made it to the fourth one. But please check the logs/minutes of the various meetings so that you know what the proposed goals are for the future. A meeting has been tentively scheduled for Wednesday, Oct 8 at 7:00pm in the #njulugs channel on irc.freenode.net. I would encourage all to try to make it to represent HamLUG. Lets also try to think of ways to drum up our membership. I'll check with the library to see if they can provide us an internet connection for our meetings. If not then I'll try the Mercer County College to see if they can offer us space with an internet connection. Also, maybe make some posters and hang them up on bulletin boards at the Mercer County College, the library and various bookstores. Any volunteers??? :-) I'm going to embark on a personal AMP (Apache, MySQL & PHP) project and see if I work on the HamLUG website to make it look more spiffy. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated in this endeavor. Hope to see you at the next HamLUG meeting. Thanks, Jeff Here is a some highlights from the various NJULUGS meetings - September 22nd, 2003 - The installfest is postponed until Linuxworld in January 2004. - Kreuter is looking into getting a table at Linuxworld. - A database of speakers/topics is in the works; in the meantime, talk about speakers and presentations in the forums. - We'll be having a social event soon. (Where? When?) - There is now a mailing list for njulugs members. September 7th, 2003 * Subject: communication, information distribution At present, the different LUGs maintain separate channels for announcing meetings, coordinating activities, etc. It is desirable for the LUGs to cross-post announcements and such, so combined announcement distribution mechanisms were proposed: - an e-mail address that gateways to an address at each LUG, - a web site that either contains announcments/messages from each LUG, or at least has pointers to the various LUG's sites - creation of an irc channel for inter-group use [Note: as of July 10, a #njulugs channel on irc.freenode.net exists for this purpose.] * Subject: unity of Users' Groups in NJ Proposal: formation of a standing organization for inter-LUG activity. Such a group [a "meta-LUG"? - Kreuter] could offer the following benefits to participating LUGs: - Pooling of resources, manpower, speakers - Coordination of events - Increase each group's network of contacts for professionals and hobbyists A domain has already been purchased for such inter-LUG purposes, njulugs.org (the domain belongs to Luis Rodriguez of RUSLUG). John Martinetti of LUG/IP offered to host a server for njulugs.org. For the remainder of the meeting, we used the name "NJULUGS" to refer to this organization. * Subject: structure of the NJULUGS organization Since its purpose is to coordinate and be a communication channel for the various Users' Groups, each "member group" should assign a "liaison" to NJULUGS, whose role will be to keep NJULUGS informed about the member group's activities, and relay back to the member groups information from other groups in NJULUGS. NJULUGS activates are to be determined by the consensus of these liaisons. Some mention was made of setting up a bank account for the NJULUGS group. No specific plans were made about this topic. * Subject: Goals of NJULUGS Proposed goals for NJULUGS: (0) Obviously, to be a channel for communications between local user's groups. (1) Co-ordinated installfest: a date, tentatively in September, for LUGs around NJ will to host installfests in their respective regions. Advertising for such an installfest-day could be split among member LUGs, and should bring attention to member LUGs. It could also be a way for member groups to raise funds (by asking for donations to defray costs). (2) Pooling funds and manpower for a table at LinuxWorld NY in January. (3) Establishing a "speaker circuit": members of local LUGs who might visit other LUGs to speak on various topics (technology, jobs, etc.). (4) Promoting Free and Open Source Software to businesses, state and local agencies, schools, etc. (5) Networking: increase contact between users, hobbyists, and professionals around the state and region. A place where employers can look for employees, businesses could go for resources (e.g., training, paid or volunteer), and so forth. (6) Reach out to users' groups with related interests: programmers' groups, sysadmins' groups, etc.
